Capturing and automatically uploading media content

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for automatically uploading media content from a mobile device to an online service provider can include receiving, in the mobile device, identifying information corresponding to a user account associated with at least one of a plurality of online service providers; capturing media content with a media input component included in the mobile device; and after the media content is captured, automatically uploading to the at least one online service provider the captured media content and the identifying information, without receiving user input contemporaneous with the automatic uploading that specifies that the captured media content is to be uploaded. The mobile device can further include a wireless communication component configured to wirelessly send data to and wirelessly receive data from the plurality of online service providers, which can be external to the mobile device.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 capturing, by a mobile device, an image using a camera of the mobile device; 
 detecting, by the mobile device, that the camera has been activated; 
 responsive to the detecting, establishing a communications channel between the mobile device and a remote computing system; 
 storing, by the mobile device, the image in memory of the mobile device; and 
 automatically uploading, by the mobile device and via the communications channel, the image to the remote computing system without receipt of contemporaneous user input that specifies that the image is to be uploaded to the remote computing system. 
 
     
     
       2. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein automatically uploading the image to the remote computing system includes uploading the image and a device identifier associated with the mobile device to the remote computing system. 
     
     
       3. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein contemporaneous user input comprises user input received shortly before the mobile device uploads the image to the remote computing system. 
     
     
       4. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the mobile device before the mobile device captures the image, user input that specifies that images captured by the mobile device are to be automatically uploaded to the remote computing system,
 wherein the computing system automatically uploads the image to the remote computing system as a result of having received the user input that specifies that images captured by the mobile device are to be automatically uploaded to the remote computing system. 
 
     
     
       5. The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the user input that specifies that images captured by the mobile device are to be automatically uploaded to the remote computing system includes user input that identifies a user account of an online service provider to which the images are to be uploaded, wherein the remote computing system provides the online service provider. 
     
     
       6. The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein the user input that identifies the user account of the online service provider includes user input that specifies a username and a corresponding password for the user account of the online service provider. 
     
     
       7. The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the user input that specifies that images captured by the mobile device are to be automatically uploaded to the remote computing system includes user input that specifies that the remote computing system is to make the images captured by the mobile device available to another user. 
     
     
       8. The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein the user input that specifies that the remote computing system is to make the images captured by the mobile device available to the another user includes user input that specifies the another user. 
     
     
       9. The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein automatically uploading the image to the remote computing system causes the remote computing system to make the image available to the another user. 
     
     
       10. The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , wherein automatically uploading the image to the remote computing system causes the remote computing system to send a message to the another user to notify the another user that the image is available to the another user. 
     
     
       11. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 capturing, by the mobile device, a second image using the camera of the mobile device; 
 storing, by the mobile device, the second image in the memory of the mobile device; and 
 receiving, by the mobile device, user input that deletes the second image from the memory of the mobile device within a time period of the mobile device capturing the second image, 
 wherein the mobile device does not automatically upload the second image to the remote computing system as a result of the mobile device having received the user input that deletes the image from the memory of the mobile device within the time period, and 
 wherein the mobile device is configured such that the mobile computing device would have automatically uploaded the second image to the remote computing system had the mobile device not received user input that deleted the second image from the memory of the mobile device within the time period of the mobile device capturing the second image. 
 
     
     
       12. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the capturing of the image comprises capturing geolocation metadata associated with the image. 
     
     
       13. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the communications channel is over a communications network configured for packet switched data transmission, wherein the image comprises a plurality of data packets to be routed over the communications network, and the method further comprising:
 determining that the communications network has available bandwidth to send one or more data packets of the plurality of data packets, and 
 wherein automatically uploading the image to the remote computing system comprises sending the one or more data packets over the communications network. 
 
     
     
       14. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the communications channel is over a communications network configured for circuit-switched data transmission. 
     
     
       15. The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the user input that specifies that images captured by the mobile device are to be automatically uploaded to the remote computing system includes user input that specifies that images captured by the mobile device are to be tagged with geolocation metadata, and
 wherein automatically uploading the image to the remote computing system comprises tagging the image with the geolocation metadata. 
 
     
     
       16. The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , wherein automatically uploading the image to the remote computing system comprises sending, by the mobile device, a message to the another user to notify the another user that the image is available to the another user. 
     
     
       17. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the mobile device after the mobile device automatically uploaded the image to the remote computing system, user input that deletes the image from the memory of the mobile device; 
 deleting, by the mobile device, the image from the memory of the mobile device, as a result of the mobile device receiving the user input that deletes the image from the memory of the mobile device; and 
 automatically sending, by the mobile device, a command to the remote computing system to cause the remote computing system to delete the image, as a result of the mobile device receiving the user input that deletes the image from the memory of the mobile device. 
 
     
     
       18. A system comprising:
 one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
 capturing, by a mobile device, an image using a camera of the mobile device; 
 detecting, by the mobile device, that the camera has been activated; 
 responsive to the detecting, establishing a communications channel between the mobile device and a remote computing system; 
 storing, by the mobile device, the image in memory of the mobile device; and 
 automatically uploading, by the mobile device and via the communications channel, the image to the remote computing system without receipt of contemporaneous user input that specifies that the image is to be uploaded to the remote computing system. 
 
 
     
     
       19. A computing device, comprising:
 a media content capturing component; 
 memory; and 
 one or more processors operable to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 capturing media content using the media content capturing component; 
 detecting, by the mobile device, that the media content capturing component has been activated; 
 responsive to the detecting, establishing a communications channel between the mobile device and a remote computing system; 
 storing the media content in the memory; and 
 automatically uploading, by the mobile device and via the communications channel, the image to the remote computing system without receipt of contemporaneous user input that specifies that the image is to be uploaded to the remote computing system. 
 
 
     
     
       20. The computing device of  claim 19 , wherein the media content comprises one or more of an image, video content, or audio content. 
     
     
       21. The computing device of  claim 19 , wherein the media content capturing component comprises one or more of a scanner, a digital still camera, a digital video camera, or a microphone. 
     
     
       22. The computing device of  claim 19 , the operations further comprising:
 prior to the capturing of the media content, receiving data indicating a preset time period that commences when the media content is initially captured, and after which the media content is to be automatically uploaded to the remote computing system, and 
 wherein automatically uploading the media content to the remote computing system comprises automatically uploading the media content to the remote computing system after the preset time period has elapsed.